Blind Faith
by Tessa Honeybee
Summary: Skids and Mudflap learn the true meaning of "More than meets the eye." from Leo and his girlfriend.
1. First Sight

Leo said his last goodbyes to his college friends before hitting the road. He had his whole week of spring break planned out and he wasn't going to waste a single moment of it. Outside waiting for him, honked an orange Chevy Trax, and the green Chevy Beat parked beside it honked even louder. When Leo was ready, he sprinted outside to satisfy the impatient twins. In the back of Leo's mind, he wondered if it was too late to borrow a friend's car for the break. Skids and Mudflap had been snooping around the campus for months now, thinking they had a right to be there, since Leo was now a sophomore in college and the appropriate age to have a car. Since the twins were not particularly favorites at NEST, they used Leo as an excuse to leave NEST and stay out of everyone's way. They appointed themselves as Leo's guardians as soon as Leo finished freshmen year.

"Yo Leo!" Skids greeted in the same tone he used when he nearly gave Leo a "heart attack" over a year ago. Ever since, Skids made it his catch phrase whenever Leo walked by.

"I know. I heard you." Leo answered. He threw his bag in the back seat.

"What's wit da cargo?" Mudflap asked.

"Yeah. What's goin' on?" Skids added.

"I told you guys I made plans to go somewhere for spring break." Leo said, sitting down in Skids' driver seat, and closing the door.

"Ya neva told us dose plans involved a _road trip._" Skids stated, sounding more anxious at the magic word, road trip.

"Just going to see Leanna for a couple days." Leo sighed. The twins stifled their laughs.

"Who's Leaaannnnaa?" Mudflap's teasing voice came through Skids' radio.

"She's Leo's new girly friend." Skids guessed.

"New? Mo' like first!" Mudflap laughed. Leo shook his head and grinned.

"Cut it out guys. We're just friends anyway." Skids started his engine and backed out of the parking lot. Skids drove and Leo steered. Mudflap followed behind. Leo took a glance back at Mudflap and noticed he didn't even bother to use a human holoform while driving. 'Oh well.' Leo thought and shrugged it off. He steered Skids right and turned them onto a new road. They drove out farther in the opposite direction of the college. In two hours or so, they were in the next big city over. The three didn't talk much. Skids flipped through radio stations, but didn't say a word. Leo and the twins didn't need to talk to pass the time. They were all perfectly content with just driving. Skids and Mudflap were always up for an adventure. (In their minds, the word adventure meant: the opportunity to do something exciting and go crazy.) But despite their awesome excitement, the twins started getting bored.

"Ya do know where we goin' right?" Skids asked Leo.

"Yeah. We're almost there." Leo said. Skids notice Leo's pheromone level changing rapidly. 'Sheesh! All dis just fo' a girl?' Skids thought.

It was dark when Leo parked by the curb in front of Leanna's house. He stepped out on the lawn and looked up and down the street. All the windows were dark, and there wasn't another soul in sight. He opened Skids' door and threw his luggage out on the lawn.

"Okay. You guys can transform now." Leo said. The twins transformed into their robot forms.

"Aw we goin' ta see her now?" Mudflap asked, stretching out his oversized arm.

"Not exactly." Leo explained. "One of you is going to stay parked here, and the other is going to stay on the other side of the street, so Leanna doesn't suspect that I magically drove two cars here alone in one night." The twins scowled at him. They didn't like where this was going. "Bottom line, you two won't speak one word, or move one inch unless driving. Keep a low profile, and that includes around Leanna..."

"Ya don' trust us!" the twins said in unison. At first, the synchronized voices freaked Leo out a little. But he managed to nod, to the twins' dismay. Then Leo quickly changed his mind. He realized that Skids and Mudflap were actually trying to be polite by wanting to introduce themselves to Leanna. They were also trying to be good guardians.

"No, that's not true. It's not you guys. It's Leanna. I just don't want her getting involved in the war."

"She wouldn' be in any danger wit us." Mudflap tried to reason. "'Cept if th' 'Cons found out she's out our side."

"That's th' point, stupid!" Skids interrupted, and smacked Mudflap in the back of the head.

"Guys! Guys!" Leo intruded before Skids and Mudflap could start a fight. They both looked down at him. "Leanna's really important to me. Promise you won't mess this up for me. And promise if something happens to her, you'll defend her with your lives, like I hope you would for me." As Leo spoke, the twins' attention was directed behind him. The tiny house's door pushed open. A young woman stood at the doorway, folding her arms. Her short brunet hair curled around her ears. She wore a salmon colored camisole with red sweat pants and pink fuzzy slippers. Her hazel clear eyes seemed to be looking straight at Skids and Mudflap. But she wasn't fazed by the Autobots at all.

"Leo? Is that you?" the girl called. Leo turned around and saw her. He ran to her and took her hand.

"Did you miss me, Beautiful?" He greeted. The girl, Leanna, wrapped her arms around Leo's neck and puckered her lips expectantly. Leo leaned closer to her to complete the passionate kiss. Meanwhile, the twins stood in the background awkwardly.

"Jus' friends?" Mudflap pointed out

"That's one intense 'friendship'." Skids agreed. Suddenly Leanna perked up and looked in the twins' direction again.

"Leo, who was that?" Leanna asked worriedly. Leo glared at the twins and mouthed 'Zip it!' to them. Skids and Mudflap looked at each other with confusion.

"No one's there Leanna." Leo lied. "C'mon. Let's go inside." Leanna looked away from the twins, and leaned on Leo's side as he walked to the house. Once Leanna was inside, Leo slipped back outside to grab his luggage. He looked at the twins' dumbfound faces. "So what do you think?" He asked, picking one bag off the lawn.

"She's hot. I'll give her dat." Mudflap said honestly.

"What's wrong wit her?" Skids questioned, as if Leanna was a mutated creature.

"She's blind." Leo told them. He felt like Skids insulted him more than Leanna. "We're in the same school. She just takes all of her classes online. We met online on the school's live chat room." The twins each raised an optic ridge at the words, chat room. "It was meant to be a study tool. But students started using it for a lot more than studying with their classmates. So before the chat room got shut down, I got Leanna's email address. We got to know each other beyond school subjects, and here we are..."

"Madly in love?" Mudflap finished.

"Friends! Just friends." Leo corrected. Mudflap rolled his optics. **"Denial"** Mudflap said to Skids, through their twin bond.

"How's she use a computer if she's blind?" Skids asked, not paying attention to Mudflap.

"The computer reads the screen for her." Leo answered. Leanna's shadow showed at the window, waiting for Leo. "I gotta go. Please just do what I asked. Stay on opposite sides of the street, so Leanna doesn't suspect anything. And stay quiet!"

"Doesn't matter, man. She won't know two cars fro' one." Skids disagreed.

"She can still detect you. She can sense where you're standing, or parking." The twins stared at Leo.

"She's psychic o' somethin'?" Mudflap asked.

"No. She just uses her other senses to see." Leo tried to explain. "Anyway. Please keep a low profile guys. I want her safe."

"Ya can count on us." Skids said. Leo hauled his luggage into Leanna's house and left the twins outside. The twins nodded and separated themselves as Leo requested. Mudflap stayed near the house, and Skids drove to the curb across the road. Inside, Leo and Leanna sat on the couch and talked for hours. They hadn't talked in months, and Leanna had a million things to tell Leo. Leo mostly just listened. All of the exciting things that he'd done recently involved the Autobots, and he couldn't talk about them. Leanna chose a movie for them to watch. She said her mother explained the movie to her enough times that she could understand what was happening on the screen without seeing it. Leo and Leanna watched and listened to the movie for about twenty minutes. But by the time the plot just started to dramatically build, Leo and Leanna were both sound asleep on the couch.

Meanwhile, someone else's sleep wasn't nearly as peaceful as Leo's and Leanna's. Mudflap's tires restlessly turned back and forth. He began to make tiny noises of distress in his recharge. He desperately whined, but Skids didn't hear a thing. Skids slept soundly through it all, and unintentionally left Mudflap to fend for himself in his worst nightmares.


	2. Seeing Nightmares

_Many vorns ago on Moonbase Two..._

The Decepticon forces dove down on the neutral civilization. The neutrals all fled. They knew this would finally be the day the Autobots couldn't protect them. The Decepticons broke though the Autobots' defense and finally had access to the venerable neutrals hiding on Moonbase Two. The Decepticons laughed at the neutrals running away, and chased after them. Their orders were clear. Retrieve anything useful of important, and bring it to Megatron. Everything else must be destroyed. Two Decepticons raided the first household they saw. Without warning, they blasted the door down, and charged in. The first sound they heard was a femme screaming. When the smoke cleared from their gunfire, the Decepticons were met by the terrified faces of two femmes, huddled in a corner. They were both painted similar shades of bright orange. They were also sisters, but that didn't matter to the Decepticons. The stomped in and tore up the whole house, taking energon and valuable effects. One of the sisters dared to approach the Decepticons, while the other sister kept her back to the wall. The one who approached the Decepticons begged for them to leave, but that only irritated the Decepticons. One knocked the femme to the floor with his giant fist, while the other kept rummaging through the house. The Decepticon stomped his foot down on the femme's back, and pinned her to the floor. He leaned over her, and struck his fist against the back of her head. The Decepticon repetitively beat the femme, until her energon leaked. Her cries for mercy became more and more muffled the harder she cried.

Meanwhile, her sister still stood in the corner, frozen. She wished with all her spark she could make herself move. But she couldn't. As the brutal beating continued, both sisters looked at each other with so much physical and emotional pain in their optics. The sister under the Decepticon understood why her sister stayed where she was. It wasn't out of fear for herself. If she had the option, she would have gladly given up her life for her sister. But her instincts told her to stay right where she was. That was her _motherly _instincts talking to her.

"Skywarp!" The first Decepticon called to his partner. "I got the energon. There's nothing left. We might as well take off."

"And the femmes, Thundercracker?" The second Decepticon asked.

"Her first." Thundercracker said, pointing at the femme with her back to the wall. Her whole body was trembling. Thundercracker moved towards her, but the femme didn't try to run.

"Please don't kill me. I have a bondmate, and friends, and my sister's hurt..." the femme blubbered. Thundercracker smiled wickedly.

"Oh? And where is this bondmate?" Thundercracker paused to listen to the screaming chaos from outside. "Is he already dead?" The femme didn't answer. Thundercracker chuckled and made a move to grab her, when a strange noise distracted him.

"Aurrroo?" came the tiny high pitched warble. Thundercracker knew the noise and immediately shoved the femme away from the wall. He discovered the femme was blocking a hidden door. The femme tried to come back to the door, but it was too late. The Decepticon yanked the door open, and out tumbled two sparklings. They rolled off of each other and innocently looked up at the strangers in their home. Their mother tried to grab them, but they were already scooped up in Thundercracker's arms. The mother of the sparklings kneeled in front of Thundercracker.

"Please! Don't take my sparklings from me. They're so young." She cried. Thundercracker ignored her.

"Skywarp. Get a look at these sparklings." Thundercracker said. Skywarp looked down at the other femme. Thundercracker gave a dirty look towards her as well. That signaled Skywarp to finish her. He stood up. The femme lifted her head weakly off the floor, almost looking hopeful. Then Skywarp revealed his weapon once again, aimed at the femme's head, and fired before the sparklings' mother could think of how to stop him. In an instant, her sister was dead.

"Renegade!" the mother screamed. Skywarp casually walked over to his partner and left the fallen victim.

"These sparklings are spark split twins." Thundercracker said in amazement. Skywarp took one and studied it. Like his brother, the sparkling he held wasn't mature enough to speak the full Cybertronian language, and spoke in chirps and hums that only made sense to his sparkling brother. Both seemed happy, healthy, and totally oblivious to the war around them. The Decepticons looked at each other, and grinned. Skywarp handed the sparkling back to Thundercracker, where the sparkling was happy to stay close to his brother. Thundercracker carried the sparkling twins out of their wrecked home. Their mother was shocked and begged again for them not to take her sparklings. Skywarp pushed her away and commanded her to be silent. That was the last the sparkling twins heard of their mother. Moments later, Thundercracker took off into the sky with the sparklings. The sparklings had never been flying before. They squealed and laughed, completely distracted. They wouldn't realize the cruel fate of their creators and their aunt, until many stellar cycles later.

Later that day, the two Decepticons brought the sparkling twins to their master. When Megatron first saw the sparklings, he didn't think much of them, and questioned why the two would bother saving two puny sparklings. Skywarp explained that the sparklings were extremely rare spark split twins. Thunderscracker noted that not much was known about twins. But if twins were as special as Cybertron's Ministry of Science claimed they were, then the sparklings they captured could be great additions to the Decepticons one day. Megatron shook his head.

"Why raise twin warriors, when you can generate twin armies?" Megatron asked rhetorically. Thundercracker and Skywarp didn't follow Megatron's thinking. "Cloning." Megatron announced.

The first sparklings created off of Cybertron without the Allspark, were officially doomed to the Decepticons' abuse. For the rest of the twins' sparklinghood, they were used as test subjects in Megatron's cloning experiments. The plan was to learn how the twins' psychic twin bond worked, and create a synthetic twin bond between an entire army of cloned warriors. The clones would have no sentience, so they'd be as loyal as sparkless drones. But they would each have a unique psychic connection to each other, so they could comprehend every move possible from every angle of the battlefield, making the army unstoppable when they worked together. There was just the issue of accessing the twins' bond, that always made the experiments difficult. But being a Decepticon, it didn't take long for Megatron to find the solution to his problem. Torture and starvation.

"Talk to your brother." Megatron always told one of the twins. He would even hold an energon close to the twin for good measure. The twin he spoke to, gazed at the energon through the forcefeild door keeping him his cell. He tried reaching for the cube, but the force field door shocked him every time. "Talk to your brother." Megatron repeated.

"You'll hurt Skids." the twin whined. Megatron was confused for a moment. Then he remembered that some of the Decepticons had nicknamed the little prisoners. Skids was named for how he took his first steps. He didn't walk. He ran. He ran a good length, but once he got up to speed he didn't know how to stop himself. So he _skidded _to a stop, tumbled over his feet, and fell on his face. The other twin, Mudflap was nicknamed for, in Starscream's opinion, having a face as ugly as a mud flap. Skids and Mudflap didn't mind their names (even if their names meant Clumsy and Ugly).

"Skids wouldn't want you to be hungry." Megatron insisted. Mudflap reached for the cube again. "First you have to talk to your brother." Megatron growled. Mudflap laid down on the cell's cool floor and prepared himself for what would happen next.

**"Skids?" **Mudflap called.

**"Yeah?" **Skids answered, wishing he hadn't.

**"I'm sorry." **Suddenly Mudflap was hit with a zapping sensation inside his processor. He accessed his brother's mind instinctively, even though he already knew what was happening to Skids. Mudflap saw through Skids' optics. He saw Skids' view of the medical berth he was strapped to. He saw the medic Flatline's hands moving over Skids' face and opened head. He had found the main component that made the twins' bond. Now came the time when Flatline would scan Skids' processor and get as much data on the bond as he could, in order to make a synthetic one. But he could only study the bond when it was active and in use. So he purposely inflicted pain on Skids by roughly scraping the sparkling's fragile armor. Skids wailed in pain, and reached out to Mudflap through their bond. Just as Flatline wanted, Skids and Mudflap were both in so much pain, they didn't dare break the bond. Mudflap understood how the Decepticons played them when they did this. But he still wouldn't leave Skids' presence, no matter how much it hurt him.

**"Okay Muddy. That's enough." **Skids encouraged.

**"Don't leave me! Please!" **Mudflap cried.

**"We have to break now. We've done enough for them, now we have to stop." **Skids said.

**"It'll still hurt!"**

**"We hurt each other more when we stay like this longer. Now let go!" **Skids side of the bond started to break away. When he was gone, Mudflap screamed louder. He was alone in the cell now, with no one to share the pain with. Even when he knew Skids was hurting too in another room, he still felt so alone.

_Present day..._

Early the next morning, Skids was woken by the images of his haunting past. When he awoke completely, he wondered why he would be thinking about his sparklinghood so early in the morning. He turned his wheels and looked where Mudflap was parked. Mudflap's wheels were twisting from left to right restlessly.

"Mudflap?" Skids asked cautiously. He opened their twin bond, and was stunned by the fear and pain rushing through Mudflap's processor! Mudflap had been tormented by his past all night, and Skids had just realized all of the agony that his nightmares built up. "Aw no! Mudflap!" Skids transformed and ran across the street to his brother. He grabbed Mudflap in his car form, and shook him awake. Mudflap instinctively transformed into robot mode. He was awake. but his processor still convinced him he was living in his nightmare. Mudflap screamed and cried as loud as he could, while Skids whispered his brother's name, and rubbed the back of his brother's head, trying to calm him down.


	3. Out of Sight

Leanna was first to notice the terrible screaming. She tried to shake Leo awake, but without realizing how close to the edge of the couch he slept, Leanna accidentally shoved Leo off the couch completely. He landed on the wood floor with a loud thud, and a moan. "Sorry." Leanna apologized. Leo lifted his head off the floor and slowly sat up to look at Leanna. He was surprised by the look on her face. Her eyes aimlessly stared into nothing like they always did, but now her pupils were bulged out. Her lips were opened just enough to see the upper half of her two front teeth. Her mouth was opened so small, yet she gasped such large breaths. Then Leo noticed the noise outside. "Something's out there." Leanna whispered. Leo listened for the noise again. He had a bad feeling in his stomach that he knew who it was. And worse, source the noise wasn't where he thought it would be. Instead of out in the driveway, Leo heard the noise coming from Leanna's backyard. Leanna heard Leo stomp towards the house's back door, and looked in his direction. "What do you think it is?"

"Just a couple of malfunctioned idiots." Leo answered. Leanna made a confused face.

"Okay... What makes you say that?" All Leanna heard that time was Leo slamming the back door.

"They're my idiots." Leo mumbled under his breath. He turned around and looked at the twins. "SKIDS! MUDFLAP!" The twins cringed at the harsh tone of Leo's voice. Leo stared at the scene in the backyard. Skids laid his back against Leanna's giant blossoming peach tree where he was mostly hidden from the neighbors. Mudflap was laying on his side, leaning against the wood fence, and trembling in Skids' lap. Leo's shouting brought Mudflap back to reality long enough for him to stop screaming. But he still shivered from the whole night's worth of painful memories lingering in his mind. "What was that?" Leo demanded. Mudflap sobbed and moved his head closer to Skids. Skids stroked his hand over Mudflap's optics and forehead.

**"Ya aint in any trouble Muddy. Don' mind him." **Skids said through their bond. Then he spoke to Leo. "We sorry Leo. Mudflap jus' got scared is all."

"Scared? Is that what it is?" Leo said with sarcasm. "I gave you two one simple request, and you can't even do that!"

"We tried ta stay outta sight. Dat's why I brought him back here till he calmed down."

"Oh! But you couldn't stay out of sight long enough to resist screaming like banshees at five in the morning?"

"I told ya dat wasn't anybody's fault! Mudflap got scared!"

"Scared...of...WHAT?"

"Bad dream." Skids confirmed. Leo actually laughed a little.

"That's it? You're supposed to be my guardian, and you get scared to death over that?" Leo mocked directly at Mudflap.

"YOU SHUT UP!" Skids yelled at Leo. "Don't eva talk like dat ta him! Is not his fault! We're jus' kids, Leo!"

"Well what are kids doing in a war?"

"Ask yoself dat! It aint easy is it?" Leo was quiet for a while. "What's yo glitch today, anyway?"

"My problem, is that I got stuck with you two on spring break!" Leo shouted, too proud to admit he felt sorry for Mudflap.

"Then if ya hate us dat much, you an' your girl can have yo peace an' quiet! Cuz we aint' your guardians anymore!" Leo couldn't have agreed more. He walked over to the fence and gladly opened it for Skids and Mudflap to drive out. Skids pulled Mudflap up to his feet and lead him forward. **"C'mon. You alright." **The twins transformed and drove off. When they were gone, Leo went back to Leanna.

"Everything alright?" Leanna asked when Leo came back in. Leo watched Leanna making scrambled eggs in the kitchen, as if she weren't blind at all.

"Yeah. I guess so." Leo mumbled.

"You sure you don't want to tell me what's going on?"

"I just told you everything was alright. Why do you think there's something going on?" Leo asked nervously.

"Because." Leanna said, placing a plate of breakfast on the table directly in front of where Leo was standing. "I heard you shouting, and I heard your car. I'm assuming you moved it, right?"

"You could say that." He said. Leanna sat down at the kitchen table with her own plate.

"So what's going on?"

"I can't explain it." Leanna was about to say something, but her wrist watch beeped and interrupted her. She devoured the rest of her breakfast and chugged down her milk before quickly running for the closet to get her jacket. "Are you late for something?" Leo asked, noticing her sudden 'Taz the Tasmanian Devil' table manners.

"Yes. Actually I'm late for piano lessons."

"You're taking piano lessons?"

"No. _Teaching _piano lessons. To this girl down the street. Her parents pay me to give lessons for an hour twice a week."

"So why'd you decide to teach piano?"

"Four reasons. One, I love music. Two, I also love money." Leo knew she only said Reason Two to get a laugh out of him. "Three, I'm friends with the girl's extremely nice parents. Four, I can't get a decent job anywhere else in the area." Leanna left the room for a moment to grab some sheet music.

"Why's that?"

"Well apparently it's because I'm blind. But at every job interview I specifically point out that blind people are capable of doing anything non blind people are capable of."

"So why do they keep turning you down?"

"I kind of have a sensory issue. If going to be visiting one place a lot, then I have to understand every detail about the place. But most people don't get me like that. Like this one time, I was trying to figure out the office environment. I got escorted out of the building for feeling the walls and sticking my hand out the window."

"Well that's a little harsh."

"Yeah well, now I'm working on echo location, so I don't look like a crazy lady when I feel the walls." She walked passed Leo and went straight to the door.

"Oh right. Because we wouldn't want anyone thinking _you're _crazy." Leo joked.

"Thanks. It's good to be a little crazy." Leanna smiled.

"Hey. Does echo location really work for you?" Leo hollered as Leanna stepped out the door.

"It's iffy." She replied. "Love you."

"Love_ you._" Leo said before Leanna closed the door behind her. Meanwhile, the twins were speeding down the road without a care in the world about where they were going.

**"Why'd we do dat?" **Mudflap asked.

**"Dat punk don't need us. Ya heard what he said ta yo face!"**

**"He don' know abou' what da 'Cons did."**

**"Well I don' care. We done givin' dat chiapet rides an' claimin' ta be protectin' him." **A message from Autobot base came through to Skids. :WHAT?: Skids answered, annoyed.

**"What's goin' on?" **Mudflap interrupted.

**"Decepticons." **Skids sighed when the transmission from base ended. **"An' ya won' believe where they're headin'!"**


	4. Blindsided

Leanna casually walked down the sidewalk, counting every familiar bump and crack. She stopped all of a sudden when she heard something. It came booming over her head and was coming closer to her. 'Now I must be losing my hearing.' Leanna thought. She couldn't believe it, but she knew without a doubt she was hearing a helicopter. Suddenly the ground shook and knocked her to her knees. The helicopter noises became whirring and metal grinding sounds. Without a clue as to what was happening around her, Leanna sprang up and instinctively started running back to where she came. Leanna screamed at the top of her lungs when giant metal claws took her by surprise and lifted her into the air. The claws suddenly let go and tossed her around lightly before catching her by her ankle and lifting her up higher. Between her frightened gasps and screams, Leanna could hear her captor making remarks about her and maniacally laughing.

"It's not every day they run _into_ your hands." Leanna heard the voice say. Leanna began to silently cry. She'd never felt so helpless before. Her heart was pounding inside her head. She reached up to try to free herself from whatever was holding her ankles. But a metal claw swatted her away, so she kept dangling there. She didn't hear, but her captor was discussing her execution at the moment. :Do not take me for a fool, Starscream! I realize that Megatron requests the Witwicky boy. But now that I have his mate, the boy will come shortly.: The Decepticon explained. He was interrupted by squealing tires and the sound of two clumsy Autobots tumbling into their robot modes. Skids and Mudflap charged at the Decepticon, but stopped dead in their tracks when they saw who the Decepticon was holding. The Decepticon smirked and showed the traumatized girl hanging from his hands. "I'm sorry. Does this belong to you?" Leanna was suddenly tossed aside and the Decepticon opened fire on the twins. Skids and Mudflap swiftly dodged and fired back. Mudflap transformed back into car mode and drove straight at the Decepticon, while Skids stayed close behind, still firing. The Decepticon shot at Mudflap, but Mudflap transformed and leapt at the Decepticon, seconds before the bullets hit him. He tackled the Decepticon and rolled him onto his back. Skids slid around the two and grabbed Leanna in his arms. Meanwhile, Leanna was absolutely petrified. She didn't make a sound when Skids scooped her up. She just stared out into nothing with obvious fear showing in her eyes. Skids took her around the corner and set her down in a driveway. Once Leanna realized she was on familiar ground, she moved her hands around on the driveway franticly. It was then when she decided she'd never missed the ground so much.

"You be safe 'ere fo' a while." Skids said. Leanna looked straight up at him and began crying again. A light bulb just turned on inside her mind.

"WHAT ARE YOU?" Leanna demanded.

"Imma friend o' Leo's." Skids replied honestly. A loud crash, and a painful cry from Mudflap reminded Skids of where he was supposed to be. But when he turned his attention back to Leanna, she was up and running back the way they came, which Leanna was smart enough to know was the way home. "Hey!" Skids said, grabbing Leanna and sitting her back down on the driveway. "Stay 'ere! I'm savin' yo life!" Skids turned and ran, not looking back to see if Leanna had listened to him.

Meanwhile, Mudflap and the Decepticon were locked in a merciless death match. The Decepticon pounded Mudflap into the pavement. While Mudflap was getting the slag beat out of him, he also had a clear shot at the Decepticon's spark. Mudflap freed his arm and tried to fire straight at the Decepticon, but the Decepticon was over twice Mudflap's size and used his massive height and weight against Mudflap. As soon as Mudflap was free, he was pinned down again. This time the Decepticon forced Mudflap's cannon arm behind his back, and put his knee down on Mudflap's chest. When Mudflap stopped struggling, he looked into the Decepticon's red optics. When the Decepticon looked back into Mudflap's, the Decepticon chuckled.

"I know you." Then the Decepticon began tracing Mudflap's facial features, to Mudflap's disgust. Mudflap growled in response. The Decepticon looked thoughtful for a few seconds. "No. I've never met you. But I knew your creator." Mudflap flinched with surprise. The Decepticon reached for Mudflap's throat and began digging into it with his claws. Mudflap kept still and endured the torture. He didn't dare struggle now. He had to know more about his creator.

"How?" Mudflap croaked.

"Skywarp never offlined your femme creator. He sold her!"

"No."

"He sure did." The Decepticon boasted, applying more pressure on Mudflap's chest and throat. "She was a slave for the rest of her days. And since you are about to die, I might as well tell you this." The Decepticon said as he picked at Mudflap's energon veins till he bled. "How do I know all of this? Skywarp sold her... to yours truly." Mudflap was scared stiff. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Kindle." Mudflap cried.

"That's right. And you know what's funny? During her last cycles online, she'd been worked so hard for so long, she didn't even remember she had twins." the Decepticon hissed. Now Mudflap had had enough of this and began fighting again to get free. The Decepticon aimed his weapon for Mudflap's spark, but was thrown off of Mudflap when a green clunk of metal launched at him. Mudflap scrambled back to his feet and stared in awe at his brave brother wrestling the giant Decepticon to the ground and kicking aft.

"The power lines!" The voice came out of no where. Mudflap didn't think long enough to consider who was talking to him. He just charged at the Decepticon and followed the voice's command. He got behind the Decepticon while Skids fired at his front. Mudflap jumped up on the Decepticon's shoulders and knocked his head around. Skids firing became more intense, and just as Mudflap had sort of planned, the Decpticon collapsed backwards and fell into the power lines. As the Decepticon fell, Mudflap jumped over the Decepticon and shot straight down at his spark from up in the air. The dead Decepticon fell flat on his back and the power poles crushed his upper body. Mudflap fell beside him, not at all hurt by the power lines, but very banged up from the not so graceful landing. Skids ran to Mudflap's side, and picked him up.

**"You okay?" **Skids asked.

**"Yeah. Fine." **Mudflap assured Skids, with a pat on his back.

"Great idea bro." Skids said out loud. He gestured towards the fallen power lines.

"Dat wasn't me. Ah mean it wuz me. But, ah din' think o' dat." Mudflap confessed.

"He's right." A woman's voice answered. Skids and Mudflap turned around and were shocked to see Leo and Leanna holding hands in the middle of the street, and watching them. "I did that." Leanna said proudly.


	5. Eye to Eye

NEST was on the scene moments later, cleaning up the remains of the dead Decepticon, and tracking down any witnesses. Which was exactly what Leo was afraid of. He knew Lennoxand his soldiers were all good people. Still, he didn't want Leanna to be over crowded by strangers she couldn't see. So he took Leanna back to her house before she could be noticed. Skids and Mudflap stayed behind and explained the situation to NEST and the other Autobots (naturally they left out the fact that Leanna was there, since neither of them could explain how Leo's blind girlfriend _saw_ the power lines).

"Anything else to report?" Ironhide asked, who stood next to Robert Epps during the twins' questioning.

"We inte'cepted da 'Con's comm. link chat wit Starscream. He said somethin' 'bout usin' Witwicky's mate fo' bait an' den turnin' 'em both ova ta Megatron." Skids answered. Mudflap looked at Skids. The last puzzle piece just got put into place for Mudflap. Skids gave a quick nod. He already knew, and didn't want Mudflap to make it too obvious. They were an inch away from exposing Leanna, and they promised Leo they wouldn't.

"Sam and Mikaela." Epps remarked.

"We'll notify Bumblebee to be on high alert." Ironhide said. He dismissed the twins, but Epps stopped the twins before they could roll out. From what he heard, he thought the twins handled the situation very well.

"Hey guys." The twins stopped in mid transformation and stood back up. "You're staying with Leo Spitz, right?" The twins nodded. "Well just so you know, we'd be happy to have you two at NEST if you ever feel like coming back." The twins were surprised to hear that they were actually wanted. Neither one knew what to say. Mudflap finally broke the silence.

"Thanks. Me 'n Skids appreciate dat." Mudflap said quickly. He nudged his brother's shoulder and walked passed him. Skids felt that Mudflap was tense and didn't waste any time to transform and roll out with him. Epps watched the twins take off in a hurry, and wondered if he'd said the right thing. When the twins were out of sight, Mudflap spoke to Skids through their twin bond. **"Okay. So run dat through ma processor one mo time."**

**"Megatron wants Sam, 'n his deliv'ry 'Con wuz afta Sam's mate ta trap 'em both."** Skids answered.

**"But he din' try ta trap 'Kaela. He captured Leanna."**

**"Dat's da point. He thought Leanna wuz 'Kaela."**

**"An' Leo wuz Sam? How do ya mix dat up? Who slagged him?" **Mudflap almost laughed. Skids didn't like his brother's tone.

**"What're we gonna do, bro? 'Bout Kindle?" **Skids asked.

**"Ya heard all o' dat?"**

**"Duh." **Mudflap slowed down, deep in thought.

**"Ah don' know Skids. Wha' can we do? She's gone."**

**"Jus'...move on? Keep fightin'?" **Skids suggested.

**"'Ey Skids? What'd ya say ta winnin' this war... fo' Kindle?"** Mudflap asked. He could already feel Skids' joy showing through their bond.

**"She woulda been proud ta know we b'came Autobots. Alright. Fo' Kindle." **Skids agreed. The sorrow of learning the truth about their mother still lingered in the twins' minds as they drove. But there was also relief in knowing what happened to her. They didn't have to wonder anymore, because they knew now that their mother was at peace, and they were sure their father was too. As the twins drove up to the curb next to Leanna's house, they noticed that every window was dark. They wondered how well Leanna was taking in the fact that she'd been nearly killed by an evil robot, saved by two good robots, and she helped the good robots beat the evil one. 'Dat's somethin' you'd have ta see ta believe.' Skids thought. Unfortunately, that was the main problem. How do you tell a blind person that they just lived through something like that, and it's all okay now? Anyone could understand that that's not something you can easily shrug off.

The twins anxiously waited outside for hours. They didn't want to intrude on Leo while he was explaining the twins to Leanna. Mudflap was the least patient one. He kept asking Skids questions at random to pass the time. At first, Skids ignored Mudflap. He was still thinking about their mother, and wanted to be alone. But when he received Mudflap's loneliness through their bond, he couldn't block his brother out anymore. If talking was Mudflap's way of dealing with pain and sorrow, Skids would talk to him, even though he really didn't want to. Mudflap sounded like a sparkling when he asked Skids all the questions Skids was trying to avoid. "Da joys o' bein' a big brotha." Skids mumbled to himself.

Mudflap's non stop questions were interrupted by a message from NEST. Ratchet wanted to see them and check for any injuries, Optimus Prime wanted to hear their story for himself. So Skids and Mudflap drove back to NEST to clear things up. The Autobots looked to the twins as if they were impressed, and maybe proud of them. When the twins finally left for Leanna's house again, the day was almost over. The sun was setting when the twins pulled up to Leanna's house. The house was still dark, except for one window that had a light shining through it and a paper taped to the glass. _TRANSFORM AND COME OUT BACK, _the paper read. Skids and Mudflap transformed. They looked at each other and walked over to the side of the house hesitantly. Skids pushed the gate open. The backyard fence was lined with lanterns, and Leo and Leanna were sitting under the blossoming peach tree. Leo smiled at the twins and encouraged them to come over. The twins walked closer and Leanna looked in their direction, sensing the shifting of their footsteps on the ground.

"They're here." Leo whispered. Leanna nodded because she already knew. The twins knelt down on the grass, and Leo and Leanna stood up. Leo took Leanna's hand and lead her forward, till they stood eye to optic with the twins. The twins didn't say anything and acted unusually shy. Leo guided Leanna's hand out towards the twins. "Leanna, meet the Autobots." Leo introduced. "Skids." Leanna and Skids touched hands. They didn't exactly shake hands, but Skids figured it was enough of a friendly exchange. Every bone in Leanna's body was shaking. She couldn't believe what she was feeling and hearing. She clutched Skids' metal hand and mentally took note of every detail.

"Thank you for saving me." Leanna said in awe. Skids grinned at her enthusiasm.

"Is ma job. Any Autobot woulda done da same thing." Skids said casually. Leo gave Skids a look. "An' yo welcome." Skids added.

"And this is Mudflap." Leo continued. Mudflap let Leanna feel his hand. Leanna rubbed Mudflap's hand more thoroughly, trying to find a difference between the two. She couldn't find any. Leanna looked up and addressed the one she assumed was Mudflap.

"Nice to meet you." She said shyly.

"Yeah, you too." Mudflap greeted. "You w're amazin' ou' dere t'day." Leanna blushed.

"What did I do?"

"Ya told meh ta use da pow'r lines. Ya can't see, ya neva seen a Decepticon befo', an' ya gave meh a battle plan dat help meh beat 'em. How'ja do it?" Leanna laughed. 'Oh, it is so good to be blind _and _smart.' She thought to herself.

"Despite Skids' attempt to keep me out of danger, I followed him back to you and the Decepticon. I felt the ground and followed your movements. Once I figured out how you two maneuvered around inanimate objects, I recognized where those objects were and I recognized where I was. So I thought about every view of the scene that I could see without my eyes. Then I thought about what I couldn't see with any of my senses. I knew the power lines were there, but I had never touched them before. So I figured, electricity wouldn't agree with a metal robot body crashing through it." Leanna explained. The twins were absolutely fascinated with her story.

"An' ya figured dat all out wit'out seein'?" Mudflap asked.

"Only my eyes are blind. The rest of me can see very well." Leanna told them her motto.

"Talk 'bout blind faith!" Skids exclaimed to Mudflap.

"I guess you could call it that." Leanna agreed.

"Wait. One mo' question. How dja know ta trust us?" Skids asked.

"You told me you were Leo's friend and you were saving my life. Of course I trusted you." Leanna addressed to Skids. The twins looked at each other, surprised that Leanna could identify them so easily. What they didn't know, was that in Leanna's mind she was praying that she was talking to the right twin. When no one corrected her, she figured she got it right and didn't embarrass herself. "And while you two were fighting the Decepticon, Leo proved your point when he found me, and came running down the street, screaming "The cars are the good guys!" at me." The twins chuckled a little at that.

"Well, we glad ta meet chu." Skids started.

"An' we sorry." Mudflap finished.

"Sorry for what?" Leanna questioned.

"We promised Leo we wouldn' getcha involved in ou' war. An' we failed." Mudflap confessed in a sad tone.

"You guys didn't fail me. You saved us both." Leo said. "Leanna helped, but the point is you saved us. And I really want you two to stay my guardians." The twins' sparks skipped a thrum. Their optics lit up twice as bright.

"Ya mean it? Serious?" Skids shouted.

"I don't think that's gonna work out so well, Leo." Leanna interrupted.

"Why?" Leo consulted her with confusion.

"Well, we're gonna have to tell the other Autobots that I know their secret eventually. So until we get everything straightened out, I think it would be right to say that they're _our _guardians. Y'know just in case, by chance I need protection." Leanna hinted. Leo grinned.

"If that's alright with you guys..." Leo said.

"I dunno. Ya think ya can handle sharin' us Leo?" Skids joked. Leo nodded.

"This is going to be an awesome spring break!" Leo grinned.


End file.
